BELARUS LOOKS FOR WAY OUT OF POLITICAL IMPASSE.

Because the first two rounds of parliamentary elections have filled only 120 of the parliament’s 260 seats, the Belarusian supreme council does not have a quorum, according to a press release by the Belarusian embassy in Washington. To get around this problem, the country’s hopes to convene a session of the old parliament June 14 to lower the number of members legally required for a quorum. Failing that, Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko may try to rule by decree in his drive to link his country with Russia. Many institutions in Belarus will resist such a linkage: The Belarus national bank is seeking to block Lukashenko’s plans to take the country back into a Russian orbit, Kommersant-Daily reported May 31. And the Lithuanian government has ratified an economic agreement that will help to keep Minsk facing West, BNS reported May 30.

Ukrainian President Sets Referendum.